Commodities markets summary

World oil prices have fallen, with the New York benchmark below $US95 a barrel for the first time since January ahead of the weekly US inventories report and the contract's expiration.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in September tumbled $US1.93, closing at $US94.48 a barrel.

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In London Brent North Sea crude for October delivery, the key European futures contract, slipped a modest four cents to finish at $US101.56 a barrel.

Earlier in the session Brent sank to $US101.07, its lowest level since late June 2013.

The September WTI was under technical pressure as speculative traders sold off ahead of Wednesday's contract expiration, said Robert Yawger of Mizuho Securities USA.

"People are unwinding some of the contract they have on their book," Yawger said.

The downward trend was exacerbated by market expectations of a third consecutive week of increases in crude oil supplies at the Cushing, Oklahoma terminal, the price settlement point for WTI, said Yawger.

Gold for December delivery, the most active contract, fell $US2.60, or 0.2 per cent, to close at $US1,296.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

While this was the first time in two weeks that gold closed below the psychologically important $US1,300 level, prices remain up 7.9 per cent year to date.

Tuesday's declines came after Commerce Department data showed US housing starts jumped 15.7 per cent in July from a month earlier, while applications for building permits, a bellwether of future construction, climbed 8.1 per cent last month.

Silver for September delivery was down 22.3 US cents to $US19.41.

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Copper futures settled lower on Tuesday as a stronger US dollar sapped demand from investors who use other currencies and eclipsed support from upbeat US construction data.

The most actively traded contract, for September delivery, fell 2.05 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to settle at $US3.0885 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.